Islam and Humanitarianism: Interdisciplinary Inquiries on Islamic Forms of Aid

AVACGIS Fall Conference

November 1, 2019, 9:00 AM to November 2, 2019, 5:00 PM EDT
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

This conference will bring together scholars from diverse disciplines of social sciences and humanities to discuss empirical, historical, and conceptual issues related to Islamic forms of aid and their potentially far-reaching implications. It will provide an interdisciplinary framework for unpacking the link between Islam and humanitarianism in ways that recognize the significance of geopolitics, policy-making, transnational partnerships, and the lived experiences of giving and receiving help that are articulated in diverse contexts of suffering. Scholars and practitioners are expected to engage in a nuanced examination of Islamic humanitarianism using an intersectional approach, i.e., the multifaceted ways in which categories such as state, race, nationalism, sectarianism, class, gender, space, and age shape the ways in which Islam interacts with humanitarianism. The conference will be organized into panels guided by four major themes;
"Defining and Conceptualizing 'Islamic' Humanitarianism", "Historical Cases and Islamic Cosmologies of Aid", "Contextualizing Muslim Humanitarianism in a Globalized World", and
"Everyday Politics of Humanitarianism by Muslims".

Sponsored by The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies and the MAYDAN.